Circuses

News about Circuses, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 8, 2015

Op-Ed article by Prof Janet M Davis laments announcement by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that its elephant performers will be retired by 2018, ending storied tradition; reflects on how circus elephant has been American tradition, and how tradition has been lens for how country considers itself. MORE

Mar. 7, 2015

Editorial applauds Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily Circus's decision to stop using elephants in its performances but questions why circus is waiting until 2018 to officially retire them; holds if circus is serious about elephant welfare, it will act sooner. MORE

Mar. 6, 2015

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey will retire all elephant acts from its three touring circuses by 2018; decision reflects shift in public attitudes and growing concern about the treatment of the animals; elephants have been iconic element of circus for 133 years, since its inception. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, opening its 145th edition at the Barclays Center, will feature two varieties of camels and their Mongolian riders. MORE

Jan. 2, 2015

Muualla/Elsewhere, collaboration between Finnish aerialist Ilona Jantti and video artist Tuula Jeker, is one of nine acts being presented in Circus Now: International Contemporary Circus Exposure 2015 festival in January 2015. MORE

Nov. 3, 2014

Oct. 12, 2014

Westchester Circus Arts, 2-year-old school in Tarrytown, offers instruction on everything found under classic big top, from tightrope walking to the trapeze (Metropolitan/Westchester). MORE

Jun. 15, 2014

Mexico's tight-knit community of family-owned circuses is on the defensive after Mexico City moves to ban circus animals due to maltreatment; circus owners argue that a cherished Mexican tradition would vanish and tens of thousand of people, many of them the working poor, would be thrown out of work. MORE

Jun. 13, 2014

Edward Rothstein reviews exhibits Your Brain, Circus! Science Under the Big Top and 101 Inventions That Changed the World at Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. MORE

Jun. 11, 2014

Circus acts have infused almost every kind of entertainment option in New York City, and businesses with circus-related services are also seeing surge in demand. MORE

May. 6, 2014

Fire officials in Providence, RI, say accident that injured nine performers with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus apparently occurred when a metal fastener snapped, causing an apparatus to plummet 30 feet to the ground; circus has cancelled two performances but says performances planned for Hartford will proceed as scheduled. MORE

May. 5, 2014

Eight circus performers dangling high above ring at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus in Providence, RI, crash some 30 feet to ground when harness suddenly collapsed; performers fall atop dancer in ring below; all nine are taken to hospital, with injuries that do not appear to be life threatening. MORE

Apr. 5, 2014

Claudia La Rocco reviews Cirque du Soleil show Amaluna, directed by Diane Paulus, at Citi Field in Flushing, Queens. MORE

Mar. 27, 2014

Brian Seibert reviews dance-circus show Knee Deep, performed by Australian acrobat troupe Casus, at New Victory Theater. MORE

Dec. 12, 2013

Laurel Graeber reviews Circus der Sinne production of Mother Africa at New Victory Theater. MORE

Nov. 2, 2013

Laurel Graeber reviews Big Apple Circus's new show Luminocity at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. MORE

Jul. 11, 2013

Moscow Journal; circuses in Russia routinely allow children to have their picture taken with dangerous animals. MORE

Apr. 10, 2013

Police in Tupelo, Miss, are searching for suspects after elephant in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was injured during drive-by shooting. MORE

Mar. 26, 2013

Ken Jaworowski reviews latest Cirque du Soleil show Totem, written and directed by Robert Lepage, at Citi Field parking lot. MORE

Mar. 22, 2013

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus begins a 23-show run in Brooklyn's Barclay Center, returning to a borough that was once a regular stop for its clowns and elephants. MORE

Mar. 17, 2013

Op-Ed article by Duncan Wall, teacher of circus history and criticism, questions why circus is not a respected art in America, when it is considered to be so in Europe. MORE

Feb. 24, 2013

Character Study column on Hovey Burgess, 72-year-old circus performer and professor of circus techniques at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; his class is required for first-year students in the master's acting program. MORE

Nov. 14, 2012

Gia Kourlas reviews show Sans Objet, performed by nouveau cirque ensemble Compagnie 111 and directed by Aurelien Bory at Brooklyn Academy of Music. MORE

Sep. 21, 2012

Exhibition Circus and the City: New York 1793-2010 at the Bard Graduate Center Galleries in Manhattan chronicles the rise, triumph and ultimate fragmentation of the circus through the lens of the city. MORE

Apr. 22, 2012

Filmmaker Paula Froehle had to navigate fractured family dynamics in the making of her documentary The Show Must Go On, a film about famed aerialists the Flying Wallendas. MORE

Dec. 9, 2011

Eric Grode reviews Cirque Shanghai production of Chinese acrobatics show Bai Xi, directed and choreographed by Miao Miao Chen, at the New Victory Theater. MORE

Nov. 5, 2011

Oct. 26, 2011

Baghdad Journal on the return of the circus to Baghdad; with the arrival of the Umbrella Circus, the battered city takes one more small step beyond war and sectarian violence toward the return of normal life. MORE